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BYRD’S DOGS 




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Copyright, 1931, by 

THOMAS S. ROCKWELL COMPANY. 
Chicago 


Printed in the United States of America 


MM 22 i&3H ® cu 



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38368 


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BYRD'S DOGS 

SLEDGING AT THE SOUTH POLE 

IN PICTURE STRIP 

By 

JOHN S. O’BRIEN 

SURVEYOR WITH 

THE BYRD ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION 

/ 

with drawings by 

BEN STAHL / 

V 


THOMAS S. ROCKWELL COMPANY 

CHICAGO, 1931 

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Playful Puppies Are 


The puppies were born in 
tunnels under the hard 
snow in Little America. 
About twenty-five of 
them were born there. 


The men used to feed them 
powdered milk and water 
until they were old enough 
to eat seal meat like the 
older dogs. 


A dozen puppies would 
gather around one piece of 
meat and try to tear it to 
pieces. It was frozen hard 
and stiff. 
























Born in Little America 


When they were a month 
old, the mother dogs 
would take them outside 
the tunnels, but the light 
frightened them. 


They would rush back 
into the dark, and the 
mother would sit there 
and whine and cry for 
them to come out. 


In two or three days they 
would get used to the light 
and would romp and play 
together no matter how 
cold it was. 


















Puppies Are Trained 


When the puppies were 
five months old, the men 
started to train them by 
hitching them to a sledge 
with an older dog. 


The lead dog would be dis¬ 
gusted with the puppies, 
because they pulled in 
every direction, or else sat 
down and slid along. 


Others would start fight¬ 
ing with the dogs next to 
them, and in a moment all 
the dogs would be in a pile, 
snapping and biting. 









to be Sledge Dogs 

When the men went into 
the tunnels to feed them, 
there would be a wave of 
puppies, twenty or thirty 
of them trying to play. 


If a man put down a glove, 
or anything else, it was 
gone in a moment, for the 
puppies would chew up 
anything they found. 


When some of them saw 
stones for the first time, 
they spent hours trying to 
eat them, for they had been 
used to eating everything. 


































Josephine—A Mother Dog 


Josephine had a kennel 
above the snow before the 
long winter set in at Little 
America. The kennel had 
no door. 


One night a storm came, 
and snow began to drift 
into her kennel and fill it. 
Josephine was afraid her 
puppies would smother. 


She moved them back into 
the kennel, but the snow 
drifted higher and higher 
around the poor little 
puppies. 
































that Knew What She Wanted 


Josephine dashed into one 
of the camp buildings, and 
the men saw her run all 
around the room barking 
and sniffing. 


She took a big piece of 
paper in her mouth and 
dragged it outdoors, and 
the men followed her to 
see what she wanted. 


At her kennel they found 
out that she wanted to use 
it to keep the snow from 
covering up her little 
puppies. 
















Lady- 

Lady was afraid of men, 
for early in her life she had 
been badly treated and 
beaten for every mistake 
she made. 



■Afraid of Men 


For weeks she would not 
let anyone come near her, 
and the men had to coax 
her and play with her for 
hours to make friends. 



-Hid 

When her puppies were 
born, she used to carry 
them to a different tunnel 
every day. Even the pup¬ 
pies were afraid of men. 

























Her Puppies Every Day 


When the men went to feed 
the dogs, Lady would meet 
them and lead them to the 
place where she had hid¬ 
den the little puppies. 


Finally she made friends 
with the men, and the 
puppies became just as 
playful and full of tricks 
as the rest of the dogs. 


One of Lady's puppies was 
Al, who was one of the 
smartest of all the dogs 
born there in Little 
America. 


















Igloo, Admiral Byrd’s Terrier, 


Igloo was a fox terrier that 
belonged to Admiral Rich¬ 
ard E. Byrd. He was five 
years old when he reached 
Little America. 


Igloo's fur was not long 
enough to keep him warm 
in the bitter cold; so the 
tailor made him a little 
parka. 


Igloo wore the parka very 
proudly as he accompanied 
the Admiral about Little 
America, and it kept him 
quite warm. 

























Wears a Little Parka 


The sledge dog puppies 
that grew up in Little 
America soon started to 
drag Igloo about by seiz¬ 
ing hold of the parka. 


The puppies were only a 
few months old, but they 
were so much larger than 
Igloo that he could not 
stop them. 


He was so ashamed that he 
did not want to wear the 
parka, and when it was 
brought out, he would 
hide his head in a corner. 






















Strong Dog Teams 


Each sledge was pulled by 
nine dogs. The lead dog 
went ahead of the others, 
and was the smartest one 
of all. 


He was hitched to a long 
rope that was fastened to 
the sledge. He wore a har¬ 
ness of leather around his 
body. 


The other dogs were fas¬ 
tened to this rope in pairs, 
each with his own harness, 
and each had a short line 
at his collar. 




















Pull the Heavy Sledges 


The lead dog was always 
put in harness first, because 
he was so anxious to start 
that he pulled on the rope 
and kept it tight. 


The men had to keep the 
sledge fastened down until 
ready to start, or else the 
dogs would run away 
with it at once. 


When the last pair had 
been put into the traces and 
the sledge unfastened, the 
dogs started off with a 
rush, barking loudly. 





















Sledge Dogs Work Hard 


After the dogs had run a 
mile or two as fast as they 
could go, they would settle 
down and work hard all 
day long. 


Each sledge carried over a 
thousand pounds of food 
and supplies; so the dogs 
had to pull steadily all 
morning. 


At noon the men had 
lunch. The dogs were not 
fed, but they had time to 
rest or play while the men 
were eating. 


















While Out on the Trail 


At night the dogs' har¬ 
nesses were taken off, and 
the dogs were chained to a 
wire fastened to each side 
of the sledge. 


As soon as they were 
chained, the men fed them 
their dinner. They would 
eat the pemmican greedily 
and look for more. 


Sometimes they would try 
to steal the food of another 
dog, but each one watched 
his own food so they could 
not fight. 
















Dinty—the Best Leader—Sulks 


Dinty was the best of the 
sledge dogs, and on the 
long trip to the mountains 
he was the leader and 
worked hard. 


One day he began to be 
sulky and did not do his 
share of the work. He 
would run first to one side 
and then the other. 


The men wondered what 
was the matter with Dinty, 
for they knew he was not 
sick and that his eyes were 
all right. 






















and Loses His Place 


To cure him of being sulky 
and lazy, the men put an¬ 
other dog in as leader and 
hitched Dinty to the sledge 
with the others. 


This did not cure Dinty, 
for he would not work, 
but just trotted along with 
the rest and let the others 
do the pulling. 


Each morning he would 
watch the new leader put 
in his place and then would 
put his head down on his 
paws and refuse to move. 























A1—a Brown and White Puppy 


A1 was one of Lady's five 
babies, and was born in 
one of the dark tunnels in 
the snow at Little America. 
He was brown and white. 


The men harnessed him to 
a tiny sledge and let him 
play with it so he could see 
what his work would be 
like when he grew up. 


He was so smart and 
worked so hard that he 
was taken on the long trip 
to the mountains when he 
was only eight months old. 




















that Did a Dog’s Work 


He was made leader of the 
team when Dinty became 
sulky, but he could not 
pull the sledge straight 
like the other leaders. 


He soon learned that the 
orange flags marked the 
trail and when he saw one, 
he would race for it as 
straight as he could go. 


A1 never was tired, and 
when the other dogs were 
too tired to eat, he would 
want to jump around and 
play with the men. 













—Again in His Place— 


Dinty- 

Dinty had been very proud 
of being the lead dog, but 
when another dog had 
his place, his feelings were 
hurt. 


On the last day of the long 
trip, the men thought 
Dinty had learned his les¬ 
son; so they decided to let 
him be leader again. 


That morning Dinty 
watched the dogs being 
put into the harness, but 
the driver first hitched the 
dogs nearest the sledge. 


















Leads His Team Home 


When the last pair was 
hitched up and the leader s 
place was still empty, 
Dinty knew that he was to 
be leader again. 


He jumped up and barked, 
tried to pull up the chain 
that fastened him, and 
showed that he knew just 
what was going to happen. 


When he was harnessed in 
the lead, he was as happy 
as a dog could be and 
pulled hard all the way 
back to Little America. 






















Tickle—Black Lead Dog— 


Tickle was a beautiful 
black lead dog that hurt 
his shoulder and could not 
take his place at the head of 
his team. 


The men took off his har¬ 
ness and let him follow the 
rest of the dogs. He would 
limp into camp long after 
the others. 


Each day he came in later 
and later, and one morning 
when the dogs were 
hitched up, he had not 
even been seen. 

















Limps Back All by Himself 


When the men returned to 
camp, one of them put on 
his skis and decided to look 
for Tickle at a place where 
food had been hidden. 


There was Tickle waiting, 
for he had the good sense 
to stay where there was 
food, and he was over¬ 
joyed to see his master. 


Knowing that he had not 
been forgotten, Tickle was 
encouraged to limp on to 
camp, where with food 
and rest he was soon well. 





















JUN 1 8 1931 






